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British PM Pledges Extra Help For Veterans
PM pledges extra help for veterans
The Government will provide priority healthcare treatment and extra support to deal with mental health issues for armed forces veterans, the PM has said.
Speaking in Parliament during Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Brown said that the Government was determined to help "veterans and all those in our forces".
Six sites will offer access to mental health clinicians for an initial period of two years, while fast-track NHS assistance will be provided for all veterans of the armed forces who have developed health issues as a result of their military service.
Details of the changes, which will extend priority healthcare access to five million veterans from the current level of 170,000, were announced on 23 November by Health Secretary Alan Johnson. In a Departmental press release he said:
"Our service men and women do an outstanding job and we all owe them a debt of gratitude and a duty of care, particularly those who have developed health problems as a result of their military service."
In today's PMQ's, the Prime Minister also promised to continue with increased funding for the armed forces year-on-year, with £5 billion to be spent on personnel accommodation over the next 10 years.
ENDS
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